Want to work at home? Many of us often forget about the skills we already have (but may not realize) when considering a home-based vocation. I hope you’ll get some valuable ideas from this article.
By Guest Blogger Kelly McCausey
 Do you realize that most local brick and mortar business owners feel lost and overwhelmed by the idea of marketing themselves on the internet? It’s true.
As a long time internet marketer, I have a good understanding of how the web works. I can create a website that attracts relevant traffic and makes a profit. I realized a few years ago that I could take this knowledge and apply it to serving a local market -– offering my services as a website creator and marketer.
There’s no lack of providers out there offering to help the local business owner take their business online, but the sheer volume of options is confusing and the price point is often far outside of the small business budget. So when I opened my doors to provide affordable services from a local source, I found clients who were hungry for what I had to offer.
I used the knowledge I have about building a simple website to set up a WordPress blog for a local consignment shop. We publish pictures of some of her new products and pipe the RSS Feed into a Facebook fan page. These are just some simple promotion strategies that come as easy as pie to you and me –- but to her, it was like magic!
Imagine her delight when a lady walked into her shop with overflowing bags of great product to consign, saying “I found you on the internet and decided to bring my things in!” The cool part? The lady drove almost an HOUR to get to her shop -– passing many other similar stores along the way.
My client is now totally sold on the power of the internet to accomplish her marketing goals.
Before she met me, she was scared stiff to even think about doing something online. Most local small business are and that’s why they need YOU!
When you focus on a local business community, you have home field advantage. If you’re good at what you do and deliver real world results, word of mouth travels fast among these business owners who regular network together.
A phone call came in to my office a few weeks ago. So and so had mentioned me to so and so and now another so and so wanted to meet to discuss a project. I setup a time and looked forward to learning about their needs. I admit my jaw dropped a tiny bit when I learned the client was a famous food brand that has its home here in northern Michigan. (Of course I quickly hid my surprise and pretended that I consulted on major brands every day of the week.
When local people ask me what I do, I say that I do web design and consulting. If the conversation progresses, I go on to tell them about how I help businesses develop powerful, interactive websites with simple tools that help them attract more clients and customers.
It all sounds very professional, right? And of course it is -– but the reality is that I work from my home, usually in my slippers. I rarely meet clients face to face and I choose my own work hours. I love what I do and thoroughly enjoy seeing how my skills benefit my clients.
If you have even some of the skills that I do: If you understand how search engines work, how to create a website with WordPress, how to set up a simple mailing list, a Twitter account and a Facebook page; you could be running your own consulting business.
Even if you lack some of these skills, if you delegate well and enjoy serving as a project manager, you can outsource the work that falls outside of your expertise and still provide all of the necessary services to your clients.
The needs exists. Local business owners know they should be taking advantage of the internet. They just need you to show them how to make it happen.
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Kelly McCausey shows you step by step how to create, launch and grow a local business consulting business at Become a Blog Consultant.
 I have a love/hate relationship with my laptop. It’s old, heavy, and as stodgy as an old man. It takes naps when it wants to, works when it feels like it, and generally just acts like it needs a big helping of prunes.
Today is one of those days, which provides the perfect segue into today’s iPhone app review: the WordPress app.
The cool thing about this app (okay, one of the cool things about it) is that it doesn’t matter if your blog is hosted (you pay for hosting and have your own domain name, in other words) or if you have a free WordPress.com blog (which would be the name you’ve chosen for your blog followed by .wordpress.com).
There are a few other things I really like about this app:
• The app can handle as many WP (WordPress) blogs that you have a username and password for. I currently only have access to four WP blogs (two are mine), so I haven’t been able to test how many it actually holds. If you are able to test that feature, well…you may need to get out more, my friend. 
• You can blog “unplugged” — when you’re unable to get to a computer, for example (or would simply rather leave it at home). I can totally see myself blogging this summer while sitting out in the sun. Bring on the iced tea!
• Problems with your computer won’t keep you from blogging, like Harry tries to do to me. (Harry is what I just named my “old man” laptop. What do you think? Does it fit?)
What I don’t like is that when using this app, I don’t have access to pictures and other needed items that are on my laptop. Those can be added later — as long as Harry cooperates, that is. I’m also not sure how to make words bold or italic, or if that’s even possible. (You may notice that I have added in some words in bold and italics; I was able to get on my laptop after writing this post to do a little editing.)
But if you’re in the position of having to write an entire blog post using the iPhone WordPress app (as this one has been), beggars can’t be choosers, right?
All in all, I think I like it…and am even grateful for it, especially today. Saunter on over to iTunes and download it. You never know when you might need it.
It’s yet another free iPhone app I highly recommend.
I’m feeling a little under the weather today (another cold), so I wanted to share a treat with you. If you’ve ever wanted to start your own blog, specifically a WordPress blog, guest blogger Kelly McCausey wants to help you learn how. Settle in and read on!
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 WordPress is the website building tool of choice for many business owners these days. It’s a great option. No software needed on your computer, great functionality and flexibility – and you can update your site content from any computer, netbook or smart phone. It’s no wonder that it’s become so popular.
You’ve probably heard that WordPress is incredibly user friendly – and it is! Still, most first time users find it overwhelming at first. If you ever tried to tackle WordPress on your own and felt like giving up, you’re not at all alone. There’s a lot to take in at first.
I was lucky though. I had several patient friends available to help me over the learning curve. Still, I wouldn’t say that I felt truly comfortable for months after. The more I got to know it, the more I realized that WordPress is both simple and complex all at the same time.
If you only want to use WordPress to publish content, it’s pretty darned simple. The visual editor operates like any basic word processor. You enter content, press publish and you’re finished.
Think of WordPress as being three things at once.
1. It’s a Content Management Script that runs on your web server, letting you enter content as easily as writing an email.
2. Your content is stored in a Database on your web server.
3. Finally, it wears a Theme, a set of template files, that determines how the content is displayed online.
Entering content is easy. The database takes care of itself. Customization, want to alter your design and manipulate the database for special needs, you have to tap a whole other area of knowledge and that’s where many get stuck.
There’s good news and bad news for those who want to learn more about managing their WordPress site. The good news is that there’s a huge resource of documents and a large community of developers and users who are willing to answer your questions. The bad news is that there’s a huge resource of documents and a large community of developers and users…
The trouble for newcomers is usually that they don’t know how to ask the right questions to produce the answers they really need. The documents and forums seem to be written in a foreign language and newbie questions are often answered with links to more foreign explanations that just add to their feelings of overwhelm.
My advice? Don’t give up. Keep asking questions. To get the best answers, provide as much information about your problem as you can. If you’re persistent, you’ll find that things come easier over time.
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About the Author:
Kelly McCausey of Mom’s Talk Biz invites you to WordPress Orientation, your all access pass to exclusive WordPress learning. We demonstrate answers to your questions during our live web conference sessions. If you’re goal is to do it yourself, WordPress Orientation is your pathway to learning how.
(Psst! You can also listen to some great podcasts Kelly has put together by going to WAHMTalk Radio. ~ Sally)
 I’m so excited to make the official announcement…right here on CrazyBusy Mama…that I am now also a blogger over at ExerciseTV! I’ve been doing the ExerciseTV workouts with my daughter, Erica, for a while now and we’ve seen such a change in our bodies and lives. It’s the coolest thing to be able to share that journey with the world! Erica will also be giving her take on our continued quest for fitness, and we’ll be sharing our updates as we train for next year’s Race for the Cure in our area.
Visit us here: CrazyBusy Mama’s Get Fit Blog
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In other cool news, CrazyBusy Mama now has a Facebook fan page! Become a fan by clicking here to get lots of useful news, fun updates and great freebies. If it’s something that will encourage you in your own quest to be healthy and fit, I’ll post it!
HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU BLOG?
 You’ve just started a new blog, you’re posting every day, and you’re having a great time! You’ve conquered the world of blogging! Then it happens — the first week is over, and you’re thinking you’re maybe not loving this blogging business so much.
That’s a little tongue-in-cheek, but when it comes to writing, a funny little thing called burnout happens…and it happens to almost everyone. But don’t despair — there are a few things you can do when the honeymoon feelings start to wane:
Make sure you’re writing about what you know. If you’re having to do a ton of research just to write a blog post, other ventures are going to start to look more interesting. Much more interesting. But if you know you know what you know, the words will flow freely from your noggin right down to your fingertips. And when that happens, you’re going to enjoy posting about your subject a whole lot more.
Spend one or two days a week marathon writing. This works really well for a lot of bloggers. Obviously, if you’re blogging about current events, you can’t do that, but if your topic allows it, give it a try. You can actually knock out a week’s worth of posts in just a few hours this way. If your blog host has a scheduling capability like WordPress does, that will make your job even easier. You can write and schedule the following week’s posts all on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
The scheduling function also works well if you’re importing posts from one of your old blogs or are wanting to use articles you’ve written in the past.
DRAWING A BLANK
You know it’s bound to happen: The day will come when you will have absolutely no idea what to write about. Here are a few idea getters:
Take a poll. Ask your readers, whether in a blog post or in an actual survey, what they think about a certain issue, or what really matters to them regarding (fill in the blank). This works very well because people like to give their opinions, as you’ll know if you’ve had a blog for any real length of time. If these people keep coming back to your blog, they obviously like you, so you might as well take advantage of that.
Go where the info is. Search through magazines, books, and the Internet to get ideas for your topic. Notice I said ideas. We’re not copying what’s been written — just getting those thinking juices flowing.
Get a guest blogger. Find someone who has a blog in the same genre as yours (preferably someone who writes well) who might like to sub for you once in a while. It’s a win-win situation: you’re able to provide something for your readers, you get a bit of a break, and your guest blogger will — hopefully — get more readers (because you will, of course, let her include a link to her blog in her bio at the end of the post).
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Stay tuned for Part Three!
GETTING STARTED: FIRST THINGS FIRST
 Choose the right niche. Chances are pretty high, if you’re a work-at-home mom, that you already have a blog. If not, starting one can greatly increase your visibility in the online community and, eventually, your sales.
Before jumping in, the first thing you must do is decide on your niche. If you go into this thinking you’re just going to blog on anything and everything (you’re going to “go where the wind blows”), you’ll eventually blog about nothing.
Obviously, if you have a business, that’s what you blog about – that is your “niche.” But what if your niche is still fairly wide? Perhaps you’re a travelling veterinarian…are you going to blog about the care of animals in general? Narrow your niche. For example, cat lovers won’t want to read about the best toys for ferrets or how to get rid of mange in that puppy you just adopted. The narrower your niche, the more loyal your readers will be.
Hosted or Free? Even if you’re new to the blogosphere, you’ve probably heard about WordPress. What you may not know is that there is WordPress.com and then there’s WordPress.org. What’s the difference? The first is free (like Google’s Blogger), and the latter needs to be hosted, like a website, because…well, basically it is one.
If you’re just starting out, go with the free blogging option until you really know what you’re doing. I’m speaking from experience here. This blog is a WordPress.org blog, hosted on StartLogic.com, but other blogs I’ve had have been free. You don’t have to pay money for a blog in order to be successful (you can put Google Adsense on a free blog, and even fill up your blog with affiliate ads — though less is always more). However, you may want to move it all to a WordPress.org blog later, and there are a few reasons for this.
First of all, if the blog represents your business, it should look professional. If the blog looks amateurish, people will assume you may not know what you’re doing business-wise, either. (But if your blog is just for fun and not related to your work, who cares? Just have fun with it.)
Another reason is your URL. A URL that reads www.yoursite.com will gain more respect with your customers than www.yoursite.wordpress.com. For a personal blog, there’s nothing wrong with that last option (I have one of those, too), but the first looks better to potential customers and even to other businesses that may want to trade links with you.
Finally, a hosted blog gives you more freedom and options when it comes to customization. Don’t like the theme creator’s images? Put in your own. Want to use your own logo? You can easily do that on a hosted blog, where you will have access to the CSS and PHP files.
There are certain things to consider when — and if — you make the decision to move to a hosted blog (one you have to pay for, in other words):
- You’ll need to select and purchase a domain name.
- You’ll need to pay for a hosting service.
- For even minimal editing of your blog, you really should have at least an understanding of HTML and how to copy and paste code into your site. If you go with WordPress.org, also knowing CSS (and hopefully PHP) is a real plus.
- If you don’t know HTML, you may need to hire someone who does. It would be well worth your time, however, to take a few online tutorials to learn some HTML basics.
- If your business is small, you can link a free blog to your site until you decide to “make the move.”
Think about layout. When it comes to blogs, you have a variety of layouts to choose from. You may decide on a one-, two-, or three-column layout, or even what’s known as a “magazine” layout.
A one-column layout is fine if you’re just updating family and friends on the new baby. But if you’re wanting to make money with your blog, you need some room to play. I personally prefer at least a three-column layout because there are more places to put ads, videos, and pieces of my mind that I don’t want disappearing at the bottom of the page in a regular post.
Magazine formats are primarily made up of various boxes that link to your posts and features and have a more splashy, modern feel. If you are prolific in your posting, have many different subtopics, or have various bloggers posting for you, a magazine layout might be the way to go. One exception to this is a site called Mashable.com. Mashable has various bloggers and uses a classic 2-column layout. But the feel of the site is more of the “wowza” magazine variety: very modern and “web 2.0.”
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Stay tuned! More tips coming later.
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